(Minghui.org) Mr. Cao Dong's attorney Li Xiongbing recently submitted Mr. Cao's appeal letter to the Beijing Intermediate Court, requesting reconsideration of Mr. Cao's two and a half year forced labor sentence. The attorney said that he and Mr. Cao's family would appeal to the Beijing Supreme Court if the Beijing Intermediate Court does not review this case.
Mr. Cao was arrested by police at his apartment on June 8, 2012. The Beijing Forced Labor Administration Committee gave the forced labor sentence because Falun Gong books and materials were found in his apartment. Mr. Cao requested that the committee reconsider, and the original decision was upheld. Mr. Cao submitted an appeal, but the Xuanwu District Court did not accept it. Attorney Li Xiongbing submitted his appeal to the Beijing Intermediate Court, but the court has not yet responded. Judge Wang He is the presiding judge.
It has been reported that the Beijing Politics and Law Committee, the 610 Office, and the courts have an internal agreement not to allow Falun Gong cases to enter litigation, as dictated by Zhou Yongkang, the head of the 610 Office. This policy is clearly illegal, and exceeds the authority of any of the entities involved. Li Xiongbing said, “The Beijing Intermediate Court is following a rule that is illegal and should not be in effect. Those who issued the order did not have the authority to do so.”
The Dongcheng District Police Department's initial decision on Mr. Cao's sentence was one and a half years of forced labor. When the case was submitted to the Beijing Police Department, the term was changed to two years. The final decision from the Beijing Forced Labor Administration Committee was two and a half years. The term exceeds the upper limit of two years as stipulated by law.
The Beijing Forced Labor Administration Committee has created many difficulties for Li Xiongbing and Cao Dong's family since Li Xiongbing accepted Mr. Cao's case. In order to obstruct Mr. Cao's request for reconsideration, the committee kept the notification of forced labor at its office. Mr. Cao's family did not receive the notification, which is required to submit the request for reconsideration, until the last day of the reconsideration period. Eventually, the attorney and Mr. Cao's family overcame obstacles from the forced labor camp, met with Mr. Cao, and processed Mr. Cao's administration reconsideration paperwork. However, Mr. Cao faced resistance again when he appealed to the court.
Li Xiongbing said of the government's behavior, “They refuse to be transparent. But they cannot continue to blatantly behave is such a way. Even such 'politically sensitive' cases need to be dealt with by the rule of law.” He considers this a fundamental and substantive issue, and sees the persecution of Falun Gong as a huge human rights disaster and a key to resolving other issues in China.
Li Xiongbing faced considerable pressure when representing cases like Mr. Cao's. However, he felt that an attorney's role is bigger than one person's fortunes. As cases like this one progress, the environment might change little by little and, in the end, change the whole situation.
When discussing the Chinese legal system, Li Xiongbing said that it is not a system responsible to the people, but to the government. In the past, the government attempted to isolate Falun Gong practitioners, prevented attorneys from accepting their cases, attempted to turn family members against practitioners, and separated them from their friends. However, when the government saw that Falun Gong practitioners' families and friends supported them, and that some attorneys were not afraid, and still represented Falun Gong practitioners, it gave them some pause. Now, public opinion is no longer one-sided in favor of the government regarding this issue.
Mr. Cao Dong is being detained in the Seventh Division of Xinan Forced Labor Camp. The details are unclear. Many of his letters to his attorney, parents, and friends have been blocked by the prison authorities.
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